>it basically comes down to trust, a code of ethics, and honing the
>skills of observation. i happen to think people can manage that.
>AND, i happen to think that ethnographies _can_ say something
>generalizable.
Yup, I agree. You mentioned Luker - I admire the hell out of her abortion book. It's serious, thoughtful, and completely fair. I'm told she's leftish and pro-choice, but you'd never know it from reading the book, and in this instance, it's a good thing, because you come to trust her renditions completely. Not Wolfe. His thinking is shallow, his prose is clunky, and he seems to be trying to do penance for his earlier radicalism. He starts with a serious misrepresentation of the class question on the GSS. Why should I trust him?
> but you'll have to wait for my diss where i'll make that
>groundbreaking methodological argument and provide the
>demonstration! HA!!!
You must finish it then. Like I'm one to talk.
Doug